Megalithic tombs are prehistoric burial chambers found on the Atlantic coast and the shores of the Mediterranean, the oldest examples of which date back to around 5000 BC. Over a period of around 2000 years, Neolithic populations on the coasts of the North Sea and the western and northwestern Baltic Sea also adopted this form of burial. The tombs could only be built where cliffs or Ice Age moraines provided stones of a sufficiently large size. It is assumed that the builders wanted to create permanent burial sites for their deceased ancestors.

Megalithic tombs only made sense after the shift from hunter-gatherers to farming and herding communities, when settlements were established and the seasons determined the rhythm of agricultural work and life. They reflected the land ownership and the more permanent settlements of the population.

Tomb structures differed from region to region. Rügen is known for its GREAT DOLMENS[M1] [ST2] – megalithic tombs with two or more large stones laid across upright ones – their typical feature being the crawl-space entrance on a narrow side of the chamber. Megalithic tombs continued to be used for burials well beyond the Stone Age.

Map caption:

♦ Destroyed sites

♦ Existing megalithic tombs

The megalithic tombs are found on the southern borders of the rock-filled moraines. That is why they are not found in West Rügen.

In 1829, there were 268 tombs marked on the map. Today there are only 53 left.

The tradition of clan graves, i.e. multiple burials in a large burial site, was revived in the Early Bronze Age with the large burial mounds. The burial mounds are often found arranged in groups on hills or at the edge of plateaus, so that in areas cleared for agriculture they were clearly visible from a distance. Large mounds are up to 36 m in diameter and up to 8 m in height.

The burials were inhumations: the dead were laid to rest in hollowed-out oak tree trunks, which were placed in a trough-shaped, rock-lined cavity which was subsequently covered with stones (Promoisel, grave 3). Upright slabs and boulders surrounded the tree coffin like a frame. At the time of excavation, the Promoisel burial mound was still 1.9 m high and had a diameter of about 11 m. Five burial sites were, in part, severely damaged. There is documented evidence of looting in the central area. One of the most outstanding finds is the gold bracelet, a copy of which is on display in the exhibition. A bronze grip-tongue sword, a vessel, and a bronze tutulus (decorative ornament) were also placed in the grave with their former owner. Twisted gold arm-rings and bracelets often end in spirals and were among the status symbols of socially prominent men in the Nordic Bronze Age. Nonetheless, the gold bracelet from Promoisel with its three end spirals only finds its match in a gold bracelet found in a Gyldensgård grave on Bornholm (Denmark).

As early as the Late Bronze Age, regional types of jewellery and tools emerged that were typical for Denmark, southern Sweden, and northern Germany south of the Baltic Sea. This cultural region is therefore referred to as the ‘Nordic Circle’.

In 1896, workers in Bergen on Rügen, near Lake Nonnensee, stumbled upon a hoard. It consisted of at least thirteen objects, mainly made of bronze: a sickle, six socketed axes (one of which is now missing), a chisel, two spearheads, a garment clasp or hairpin, and a pointed flint. Among the artefacts discovered under a stone slab was a casting cake, which is produced during the manufacture of bronze and served as raw material in the same way as an ingot. The Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin (Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin) acquired the ensemble from a Bergen sexton (Benz). In 1897, the Berlin museum bought another socketed axe which allegedly belonged to the hoard from a master bookbinder (Kenschel) from Bergen.

Bronze Age hoards represent a distinct category of finds. The deliberate and permanent depositing of valuable bronze objects, which are thus removed from the resource cycle, is particularly evident at sites in moors or bodies of water. Bronze Age hoards are generally interpreted as offerings to the gods, the permanent relinquishment of these objects often regarded as a ritual sacrifice. It is possible that individual caches in the ground were used as hiding places by traders or as a provision for wartime. In these cases, the death of the person who hid the objects probably meant they could not be found again. The hoard from Nonnensee was buried in the Late Bronze Age (900–800 BC).

Scale 1:50,000

Consisting of four individual sheets, this ‘Special Map of Rügen’ charts more than 1,100 archaeological sites.

The prehistoric graves marked on the map are of particular interest for Rügen’s archaeology, as many of them were destroyed by farming work and road construction in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Strangely enough, however, fortress ramparts are not fully documented.

Friedrich von Hagenow

Friedrich von Hagenow (1797–1865) was the most important cartographer, antiquarian, and geologist on Rügen in the nineteenth century. In 1866, his collection was acquired by the Provinzialmuseum für Neuvorpommern und Rügen (Provincial Museum for New Western Pomerania and Rügen) in Stralsund.